Gallery: 50 Years of Gas Station Photos Pump Out Premium Americana
01Gasoline-13
*Original caption from newspaper clipping: "Rebound Crash Fells Gas Pumps -- Mrs. Francis Shea, of Mount Prospect, had just left her auto to sign a gas slip at Nick's Gas Station at Busse and Northwest Hwy. in Mount Prospect when this happened. Auto driven by Marlin Wells, 16, of Mount Prospect missed a curve, hit the first car and smashed it against two gas pumps, starting a fire. Blaze was quickly extinguished. Miss Wells suffered facial cuts and left kneecap injury. Her passenger, Susan Draper, 17, of Des Plaines, had facial cuts." Photo for* Sun-Times *by Robert Blaski, May 23, 1962.*
02Gasoline-33
*Photograph stamped with "SUNPAPERS PHOTOGRAPH CLARENCE B. GARRETT DATE 7-4-70 FILE NO. 7-76" and "Ocean City Carla Brubaker" written on by hand.*
03Gasoline-1
*Gasoline Shortage 1974. Jackson and Sangamon northeast corner January 29, 1974. The scene at this Shell station at Jackson and Sangamon found motorists by the hundred lined up for blocks awaiting to get gasoline.*
04Gasoline-19
*Handwritten on photo: "Gas Wait. Layfayette avenue near Charles street. Pat Sullivan, frustrated." Stamped with "Gasoline Shortage Baltimore & Maryland 1979."*
05Gasoline-26
*South Portland, ME -- James F. Cagney Jr., 24-year-old son of movie actor Jimmie Cagney, cleans off the windshield of a cab at his service station. Cagney Jr. received the blessing of his father when he decided to go into the service station business. Stamped February 19, 1963.*
06Gasoline-12
*A gasoline storage tank broke open a six-inch slab of pavement last weekend at a closed down service station in Eugene, OR. Ground water that has accumulated during heavy rains apparently caused the empty tank to “float” to the surface. AP wire photo from Nov 27, 1973.*
07Gasoline-24
*Tribune Photo by Edward Wagner Jr. from April 26, 1979. Original caption: "Prices are ... Gasoline money surely burns holes in motorists' pockets these days. In fact, it hurts like, well ... The wind-damaged sign in a station at 55th Street and the Dan Rayan Expressway sums up the feeling accurately."*
08Gasoline-36
*Destruction left in the wake of the battle for Fraulautern, Germany. Taken on December 26, 1944. Stamped with the barely legible "Signal corps photo please credit released for publication by bureau of public relations war department."*
09Gasoline-30
*Cars jam a BP station at Eastern avenue and long lines for gas. Drivers began staking out Bonsal street early today as drivers formed some stations well before they even opened. Stamped with "SUNPAPERS PHOTOGRAPH LLOYD PEARSON DATE 6/14/79 FILE NO. 262."*
10Gasoline-8
*Photo stamped with "SUNPAPERS PHOTOGRAPH GEORGE H. COOK DATE 10-200-72 FILE NO. 0-468." Caption from newspaper clipping: "Abandoned gas station at Centre street and the Fallsway."*
The ceiling in Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse. You'll want to click through on this image to see it in full detail. I'm still shocked that someone allowed this ceiling to be muddied over by pollution for over 50 years. Image: Wikipedia Commons.11Gasoline-6
*Photo stamped with "SUNPAPERS PHOTOGRAPH FRANK R. GARDINA DATE 8-22-1964 FILE NO. 8-458." Caption from newspaper clipping: "A huge wall, which has been nicknamed the Berlin Wall, has been built by the gas station to separate its property from ours. The construction is part of a county program to make all gas stations build them by 1971. The neighbourhood, however, is violently opposed to this one. Can Direct Line suggest something we can do about it? -Mrs J.V.B."*
12Gasoline-5
*Photo stamped with "SUNPAPERS PHOTOGRAPH JOSEPH A DIPAOLA DATE 8/21/73 FILE NO. 83 - 32." Original newspaper clipping caption: "More signs in a field clearly mark the spot where HRD wants to pump gas."*
